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Take a unique opportunity to dive with manta rays to build a database about individual rays, their behavior, and their conservation needs.

The manta ray is the world's largest ray, with a disk width of up to 23 feet (seven meters). As a harmless giant, it attracts considerable interest from the public and is the subject of commercial diving tours that bring in millions of dollars.

Manta rays are also hunted by fisheries. Recent demand in eastern Asia for manta ray products poses an immediate threat to the species and has caused significant population declines. The manta ray is now classified as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and is not currently protected in
Australian waters.

As a volunteer, you’ll take and process photos of manta rays in order to identify individual fish. You’ll also contribute to a study of manta feeding habits, assist with plankton sampling and analysis, and help film rays for an ongoing behavioral study.

The information you gather will go into a database that will help significantly improve species and habitat management plans. Government agencies, conservation groups, and commercial tour operators will turn to Project Manta and the work you do to determine how best to protect threatened manta populations and to promote sustainable ecotourism as an alternative to hunting.

Note: To be eligible for this project, participants must complete and pass a commercial dive medical assessment performed by a SPUMS doctor prior to the beginning of the project. Visit SPUMS website to locate a doctor. The cost of the assessment ranges between AUD$200-AUD$300. For further information, please contact us.

Lead scientists

Accommodation and food

Why the research is important

Why the research is important

Relatively little is known about most aspects of mantas' biology, ecology, or numbers.

By increasing our understanding of mantas, this project will help shape conservation efforts.

In Australia, manta rays occur in shallow water and are a common sight to swimmers, snorkelers, and divers. Yet we don't know much about them. Project Manta is rectifying this by engaging scientists, industry, and the public in a study that will increase our knowledge of the species, generate economic and social benefits, and provide a basis for long-term monitoring of the manta's environment.

Global warming has caused marked changes in oceanic conditions, which may have dramatic consequences for mantas and reefs.

Its global distribution and easily identified shape make the manta ray an excellent indicator species by which to monitor the effects of environmental change on our oceans and reefs. Global warming has caused marked changes in oceanic conditions, including water temperature, current patterns, and acidification—all of which may have dramatic consequences for mantas and the reefs on which they depend. Correlating data on manta distribution and movements with large-scale oceanographic changes will help scientists monitor global oceanic health.

About the research area

Lady Elliot Island, Queensland, Australia, Australia & South Pacific

Lady Elliot Island is located in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and is classified as a Marine National Park Zone. The island is a coral atoll. Seabirds bringing guano and seeds helped establish vegetation on the island. In the 1860s, mining operations for guano stripped the island of its top meter of soil and all vegetation except for eight pisonia trees. In 1969, an aviator arrived on the island and started a revegetation program using seeds of native plants. This transformed the island into the beautiful wildlife sanctuary that it is today.

Lady Elliot Island is one of six island resorts on the Great Barrier Reef. It is teeming with life, including sea turtles that hatch on its beaches, dolphins, many kinds of coral and fish, and a variety of breeding birds. Humpback whales pass nearby during the migration season, and an unknown number of manta rays live around the island.

To limit the effects of diving activity on the rays, you’ll split your time between water-based, boat-based, and lab activities. You will:

Dive to observe and photograph rays.
You'll swim under rays to take photos of their underbellies, which have unique spot patterns that allow researchers to tell individuals apart. You'll also watch what they're doing in the water and record their behavior. Sometimes the team will also observe ray behavior from a boat.

Take environmental measurements. From a boat or the water, you'll take water and plankton samples and measure the currents, water conductivity, temperature, and depth. This information helps researchers find out how the rays' ocean home is faring.

Identify individual manta rays. Back in the lab, you'll use photos of rays to identify them. If you find a previously unidentified individual, you may even have the opportunity to name your own manta ray!

A diver tries to capture a photo of a ray so researchers can identify the individual animal later.

Accommodations and Food

Accommodations and Food

You’ll stay on Lady Elliot Island in four-person permanent tents with bunk beds, wooden floors, and screened windows. There are several toilet blocks with hot water available throughout the day.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served buffet style; the range of choices is large and the food is delicious. Continental or hot breakfasts are followed by lunches consisting of salads, pasta, chicken or fish, and fresh fruit. Dinner might consist of steak, fish, chicken, pasta, or vegetarian quiche, and there is often soup and a choice of desserts. Filtered water, tea, and coffee are available all day.